Bill would give FERC new powers. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) recently introduced a bill giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) expanded authority in a number of areas, including transmission siting, nuclear power incentives, offshore drilling, and the funding of renewable energy and efficiency with oil and gas revenues. Dubbed the SMART Energy Act of 2009, the bill would create an “Energy Superhighway” for transmitting electricity while promoting domestic energy production and biofuel development. According to the McCook Daily Gazette, the bill is an outgrowth of work done by a bipartisan group of senators at the end of last year.

   Quick Take: As SGN’s Alex Zheng reported earlier, this is a continuing part of the movement afoot in Washington DC to transfer more authority out of the hands of the states and into those of the federal government.

   Senator Nelson’s press release

   McCook Daily Gazette report

   Alex Zheng on FERC siting authority

NIST taps EPRI in standards effort. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded a $1.3 million contract to the nonprofit Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to help achieve its goal of developing standard for Smart Grid interoperability. The contract calls for EPRI to help develop an initial roadmap for standards based on those that have already have widespread industry consensus. As part of this effort NIST will be holding a summit of industry representatives in May. The initial draft standards are expected by fall of this year.  After that, NIST will fill in the gaps on more complicated issues and present a complete set of standards to Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) for its review. In addition, NIST will develop a product testing and certification program. These last two efforts are expected by the end of the year.

   Quick Take: As we reported last week, NIST at last appears to be getting serious about the standards effort it was assigned in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. Bringing EPRI on board is a very positive sign that we may soon see progress in this important area.

   EPRI press release

   Renewable Energy World report

   Washington Business Journal article

   SGN report on NIST accelerating standards effort

Loophole puts open standards at risk. Language about open standards in the ARRA was inserted by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), according to a story in the Huffington Post. Writer Christopher Meyer quotes ZipCar founder Robin Chase as writing that the requirement for “open standards and internet protocol” were a Markey amendment. But in the ensuing days, industry lobbyists succeeded in adding the loophole “where available and appropriate.”  Chase cites examples of several state officials not understanding why open standards are important and expresses anxiety that regulators are getting advice from those who stand to benefit from proprietary systems that could stifle innovation.

   Huffington Post article on open standards

The next new service from the DOE? Banking. A draft bill is in the works that would create a financial institution within the Department of Energy to help finance next-generation energy projects. The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is expected to unveil a draft following the Senate’s April recess that would not only strengthen DOE’s existing loan guarantee program, but may give it the power to loan money directly to support clean energy technologies. Details will be completed after the Senate break.

   Quick Take: This is just another sign that there will be many places to look for Smart Grid money if you can pull together the right project and the right team.

   Platts story on DOE energy bank bill

How green is the Smart Grid? asks article. Brattle Group Associate Ryan Hledik examines the environmental impact of a Smart Grid system in the April issue of The Electricity Journal. The report considers two scenarios, a conservative one that assumes the deployment of existing technologies like smart meters and dynamic pricing; and a more forward-looking one that assumes the use of future technologies like smart distribution and increased distributed energy resources. “The study uses The Brattle Group's Regional Capacity Planning Model (RECAP) to quantify the potential CO2 reduction that could result from a national smart grid deployment,” Hledik told SGN. “The impacts could be quite significant.” Indeed, Hlediks’ conservative scenario predicts a 5% drop in power sector CO2 by 2030 and a 16% drop under the expanded scenario. The Brattle Group does consulting on economics, finance, and regulation.

   Brattle press release

Ambient joins forces with Bel Fuse. Newton, MA-based Ambient Corporation has signed a deal with Jersey City’s Bel Fuse, Inc., to develop a variety of Smart Grid products and applications aimed at utilities. Bel Fuse brings its experience as an electronics, networking and telecommunications company to Ambient’s background of broadband over powerline and maker of communications nodes. Ambient recently made headlines by teaming up with with telecom giant Verizon for a variety of Smart Grid projects.

   Press release

   MHT report on the partnership

   SGN report on Ambient – Verizon partnership

New York Assembly investigates collusion, overcharging among power producers. Lower demand resulting from the recession combined with the reduced cost of producing power has pushed New York state’s wholesale electricity prices to their lowest levels since November of 2003, according to New York Independent System Operator (ISO) President and CEO Stephen G. Whitely. Yet customer rates in New York are higher than many states, according to Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY). The issue has caused the state Assembly to form a committee to investigate claims of overcharging and seek evidence of collusion among power producers.  Democrats, who control the Governor’s office, Assembly, and Senate, suspect deregulation, enacted a decade ago, to be at the heart of the problem.